Sanitary drinking fountain



. K. n. PERKINS AND A. n. KARR.-

SANITARY DRINKING FOUNTAIN.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 29, 1920. v

Patented @ct. 3, i922.

STATES rArNr arri es.

KARL n. PERKINS, on NEW YORK, N. 31., AND ALFRED n ana, or NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, essrenons TO annrrrnnn nnrnis-naa'riive MACHINE 00., or NEW YORK,

N. 321, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SANITARY DRINKING FOUNTAIN.

Application filed April 29, 1926. Serial No. 377,472.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, KARL D. PERKINS and ALFRED D. Kama, both citizens of the United States, and residing, respectively, at New York, county of New York, and State of New York, and Newark, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sanitary Drinking Fountains; and we do here by declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and. use the same.

This invention has for its object the provision of an. improved drinking fountain construction which effectively prevents unsanitary conditions from arising in or about the drinking jet.

To this end, a protected swinging nozzle and a water supply valve connected to the water supply pipe is provided. The valve is adapted to control the supply of water to the nozzle, and the nozzle may be arranged to be swung into and out of its operative position simultaneously with the operation of opening and closing the water supply valve. The swinging nozzle together with the valve mechanism may be mounted within a suitably arranged protective casing provided with an opening through which the jet of drinking water is projected, when the nozzle is swung into its operative position behind the opening. The location of the opening and the operative position of the nozzle may be so arranged that the jet is projected at such an angle as to prevent or discourage the drinker from placing his lips in contact with the casing. Further, provision may be made for so constructing and directing the nozzle as to project the stream in an approximate parabolic path or trajectory and in such a manner that the stream coalesces to form a tempting drinking point at or near the midpoint of its trajectory, and at a distance from the casing. In this way the drinker will be induced to place his lips at the point of coalescence and the waste water, or drip, Will not drop on, or spatter, the outer surface of the casing, and in any case will not spatter the interior of the protective casing, thereby contaminating it or the nozzle. As a result of these provisions it will be found that the nozzle and its casing will remain in an unusually sanitary condition over long periods of continual use.

A swinging guard may be provided to protect the opening in the casing when the nozzle is in its inoperative position, and it may be arranged so as to be operated simultaneously with the swinging of the nozzle into or out of its operative position. This arrangementwill effectively prevent the insert-ion of small objects into the interior of the casing as well as prevent dust, bacteria, or other foreign substances from entering Within the interioriof the casing, and as a result contaminate the nozzle.

It has been found advantageous to construct the nozzle so as to permit the formation of two concentric jets, one of which is hollow and surrounds an inner solid jet. By suitably proportioning the nozzle giving rise to the formation of the two jets, and by regulating the pressure of the supply of water, a point at some distance from the protective casing may be determined at which the two jets will coalesce.

The arrangement of the swinging nozzle and the protective casing, as well as other objects and advantages of this invention, will be more clearly understood from a description of certain preferred embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front view, in section, of the swinging nozzle and protective casing;

Fig. 2; is a top view showing the protective casing and the means for swinging the nozzle simultaneously with the operation of the water supply valve.

Fig. 3 is-a sectional view of the drinking fountain taken along line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a front view, in section, of a drinking fountain, similar to that shown in Fig. 1, the swinging nozzle being arranged to project a stream of water vertically; and

Fig. ,5 is a diagrammatic representation of a drinking fountain such as that shown in Fig. 1, in operation.

In these drawings, particularly F igs. l, 2 and 3, the swinging nozzle 1 is provided with a fixed protective casing 2 surrounding the nozzle and its associated mechanism. A. handle 3 serves to swing the nozzle 1 from its inoperative position, as shown in Fig. 1, to an operative position determined by the stop 3, in which the nozzle is adapted to project a stream through the opening 4 in the protective casing 2. The handle 3 also serves to open and close the water supply valve 5 simultaneously with the swinging of the nozzle 1, the valve 5 being adapted to admit water from the water supply pipe 6 when the nozzle 1 is moved to its operat've position behind the opening 4:. A swinging guard 7 serves to protect the interior of the casing 2 from the insertion of small objects, through the opening l, and also prevents the admission of dust, bacteria, or other foreign material within the interior of the casing 2. It will be observed j that the swinging guard 7 is swung into its operative position by the handle 3, when the nozzle is swung into its inoperative position.

The openings in the casing 2 may be arranged at any convenient point around the periphery or surface of the protective casing 2 and the stop 8 may be arranged so as to adjust the operative position of the nozzle into a position in which the stream of water is projected through the opening, In this way it will be found that the drinking angle may be varied in such a way as to discourage a drinker from placing his lips in contact with any part of the casing 2. The water which continues to flow into the nozzle 1 from the water supply pipe during the swinging of the nozzle from the operative to the inoperative position, would tend to collect within the casing unless suitable openings or drains 8 were provided. The openings 8 may be arranged at the base of the protective casing and. in such a manner as to permit the draining of its interior.

Referring now particularly to Fig. 4, the swinging nozzle 9 and the opening 10 in the casing 11 are so arranged as to provide for the vertical projection of a stream of water from the nozzle 9, the stop 12 being so ar ranged as to limit the movement of the swinging nozzle 9 to a position behind the opening 10. As in the case of the drinking fountain described in connection with Figs. 1, 2 and 8, the swinging nozzle 9=may be actuated by a handle which simultaneously opens and closes the water supply control valve.

In Fig. 5 a drinking fountain construction as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, is arranged in connection with a bowl 13, to supply a stream of drinking water 14 which coalesces at a point 15 at some distance from the casing 16. It will be noted that the stream of water 14 is directed in such a manner as to discourage the drinker from placing his lips in contact with the casing 16, but additional provision is made in the form of projections 17 which will actually prevent a drinker placing his lips in contact with the casing 16. 'It will also be noted that the point of coalescence 15 being at a distance from the casing, the waste water or drip and spatter, as the case may be, will not spatter the outer surface of the casing 16 to any extent, with the result that both the nozzle 18 and the interior of the casing 16 will remain in an unusually sanitary condition.

It is to be understood that the specific drinking fountain construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described above, may be modified, without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. For example, the swinging nozzle may be arranged to be swung in any plane and the swinging guard may be arranged accordingly; likewise the manner of actuating the swinging nozzle may also be modified, as well as its arrangement in connection with the valve control mechanism to operate the supply valve simultaneously with the operation or swinging of the nozzle.

lVe claim 1. A drinking fountain comprising a water supply pipe, a swinging nozzle operatively connected to said supply pipe, a fixed protective casing surrounding said nozzle and an opening in said casing, said nozzle in its operative position adapted to project a stream of drinking water through the open ing in said casing.

2. A drinking fountain comprising a water supply pipe, a swinging nozzle operatively connected'to said supply pipe, a valve for controlling the supply of water to the nozzle, a protective casing surrounding said nozzle, an opening in said casing and means for swinging the said nozzle into and out of its operative position simultaneously with the opening and closing of said valve, said nozzle in its operative position adapted to project a stream of drinking water through said opening in the casing, and in its inoperative position to be protected by the casing.

3. A drinking fountain comprising a water supply pipe, a swinging nozzle operatively connected to said supply pipe, a valve for controlling the supply of water to the nozzle, a protective casing surrounding said nozzle, an opening in said casing, means for s inging the nozzle into and out of its operative position simultaneously with the opening and closing of said valve, and a swinging guard adapted to be operated simultaneously with said swinging nozzle and to protect the opening in said casing when the nozzle is in its inoperative position.

4. A drinking fountain comprising a. water supply pipe, a swinging nozzle operatively connected to said supply pipe adapted to produce two concentric jets of water, a valve for controlling the supply of water to the nozzle, a protective casing surrounding said nozzle, an opening in said casing and means for swinging the nozzle into and out of its operative position simultaneously with the opening and closing of said valve, said nozzle in its operative position adapted to project the said jets of water through said opening and away from the casing to a predetermined point of coalescence of the jets.

5. A drinking fountain comprising a water supply pipe, a swinging nozzle operatively connected to said supply pipe, a valve for controlling the supply of water to the nozzle, a protective casing surrounding said nozzle, an opening in said casing, means for swinging said nozzle into and out of its operative position simultaneously with the opening and closing of said valve and a swinging guard adapted to be operated simultaneously with the swinging of said nozzle, said nozzle in its operative position adapted to project a stream of drinking water through said opening in the casing, and in its inoperative position to be protected by the casing, said guard adapted to protect the opening in said casing when the nozzle is in its inoperative position.

In testimony whereof we aihx our signatures.

KARL D. PERKINS. ALFRED D. KARE. 

